When writing consider the recipients. What do they know already? What can you tell them?

Outline your memos and letters before beginning to write.

When writing reports, summarize key points or conclusions on the first page and document them with more information on subsequent pages.

Write like you speak to make your writing as readable as possible.

Learn the writing style of your organization and follow it. Don’t use flowery language (many adjectives and verbs) when inappropriate.

Have your secretary or assistant edit and proofread your correspondence for sentence structure and grammatical errors.

Keep dictionary thesaurus on hand to check spelling and word usage.

Use variety of sentence structures—simple, complex, and compound—to add interest to your writing.

When writing for a non-ethical audience, have a non-technical person identify jargon. Then either eliminate it or include a glossary defining the terms.

Use charts and tables wherever possible to present numerical information.

Use “action verbs” to add punch to your message.

Eliminate weak words like “very,” “interesting,” “often,” and other bland adjectives or adverbs.

Keep paragraphs short. Make sure the content of a paragraph revolves around only one thought—the topic sentence.

If you do a large amount of routine correspondence, standardize it as much as possible.

If procrastination is a problem, start writing a rough draft early so you have time to reverse it at least once.

When allocating blocks of time for writing, set aside periods of one to one-and-a-half hours, rather than trying to do it in segments of 5 to 15 minutes.

Develop a flash card system to work in your own common misspellings.

Dictate correspondence, memos, and so forth, to save time.

Seek immediate and specific feedback on reports you write.

Take a second or third look at your memos before sending them.

Use a grammar checking software program on your computer to identify errors you frequently make, and use that feedback to focus your efforts to improve your writing.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir – Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

When your outline is complete and you are ready to write your first draft, many writers make a common mistake at this point. They try to “get it right” the first time. They may work on a paragraph for hours, fine-tuning the words until they are perfect. Writers thus shut off their creativity by insisting on profession.

Remember, the first draft is a working draft. It should be written quickly without too much thought to elegant expressions or final order and paragraphing. Your object is to get the material on paper to flash out the structure of your outline. Let the words flow. Start wherever you can—in the middle, even near the end. The opening or introduction can be completed later. Any weaknesses in logic or gaps in information, any points that are out of place can be corrected in the final version.

As you write the first draft, keep your audience in mind. Doing so will help you stay focused on the purpose of your work. Keep writing until you have completed the first draft.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir – Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.